Reports show pattern of rude, disrespectful treatment of travellers by CBSA agents

Dozens of travellers arriving home at Ottawa International Airport have filed complaints about rude treatment and harassment by Canada Border Services Agency officers, including one who allegedly asked a young woman if she was menstruating.

Many of the complaints share a consistent theme: the aggressive tone of border officers who greet them when they return home.

“I have travelled the world and I never had a more unwelcoming, intimidating and nasty experience,” wrote one complainant of his arrival in Ottawa.

Another complained that business colleagues arriving in Ottawa were “shocked and appalled at the rude and eventually hostile reception from Canada Border Services agents.”

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Others reported feeling “intimidated and harassed,” “demeaned” or being treated in a “highly rude and disrespectful manner.”

Copies of 45 complaints, all received since 2010, were released through the Access to Information Act, but heavily redacted, with names, dates and other information that could identify the travellers removed.

Most disturbing of the complaints was one filed by a couple who claimed their daughter, upon returning to Canada through Ottawa, was searched and questioned in a “rough and ill-humored manner” by a female border officer.

“Upon noticing a sanitary tampon in her bag, the agent asked (daughter’s name) if she was having her menstruation,” the complaint says. “We find this Customs’ agent behavior towards our daughter to be demeaning, unnecessary, hostile and, most unacceptable of all, an intrusion into her privacy,” the complainants wrote.

“My daughter left Ottawa Airport with the feeling of having been humiliated as she re-entered her country.”

There is no indication in the documents how the complaint was resolved or whether any disciplinary action was taken.

“Regrettably, no organization is immune to acts of misconduct or unprofessional behaviour by a few employees,” said spokesman Chris Kealey in a written statement.

“This is not a reflection on the professionalism, dedication and integrity of the balance of the workforce.”

Kealey said front-line officers receive “service excellence” training and are given ongoing training as required.

In another complaint, a 53-yearold tourist arriving from Atlanta described an abusive tone of questions asked by the officer during a search of his luggage.

“When I couldn’t name enough tourist attractions to his satisfaction, he asked to see my itinerary. He then berated me for having made the reservations in (location redacted) and how could I not know more about where I’m going?” the visitor wrote.

“Was this really necessary It was a horrible first impression of Ottawa.”

Was this really necessary It was a horrible first impression of Ottawa

A business traveller who identified himself as the director of a technology company complained about an aggressive and sometimes sarcastic “interrogation” by an officer.

“I have travelled around the world for business and pleasure both a lot and in my memory, this was THE most unpleasant welcome I got in

any country,” he wrote.

“This experience has totally changed my views about Canada being a friendly place.”

One traveller who had immigrated to Canada was so upset by his treatment by Ottawa CBSA staff that he wrote to Stephen Harper and included a copy of the letter the prime minister had written to congratulate him on becoming a citizen.

The CBSA “ransacked my belongings, tore apart my private letters, took my pictures and fingerprints. While all these were happening, these officers were laughing at me,” he wrote.

“Your good self had written to me on the attainment of my Canadian citizenship that I should be proud of my achievement. But the actions of these officers negated the spirit and contents of your letter.”

The agency even received a complaint from another CBSA employee who, when passing through customs in Ottawa, was pulled aside for secondary screening. She said the border service officer looked up her name in the CBSA email system, then grilled her about whether either of her parents helped get her the job.

“As a Public Servant, and more specifically a proud CBSA employee, I cannot express my utter shock at this type of behaviour,” the employee wrote to the agency’s regional director.

“The fact that a BSO would not only consider but vocally suggest that my career accomplishments are based on nepotism is insulting and

unacceptable.”

One man complained of rude and abusive treatment of his wife’s niece, who visited from Poland.

“Is it policy to harass Polish people as my wife has had similar situations and we all know what happened in Vancouver,” he wrote, apparently in reference to the death of Polish national Robert Dziekanski after being Tasered and restrained by the RCMP.

Two complaints referred to CBSA officers as “perverts” or “pervylooking” in relation to either strip searches or searches though laptop computers.

One young man, returning from a holiday with his girlfriend, complained that he was handcuffed after an agent found two souvenir carved wood pipes in their bags. When he

said he wanted to call a lawyer, he claims, he was told the process could take hours. Instead, he consented to a strip search.

“I stripped down, and they found nothing. I got dressed feeling totally humiliated and degraded,” he wrote.

“They found delight in humiliating me and tried to be very frightening. It put a very bad end to a vacation that I had worked so hard to get.”

One complaint, forwarded from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, appears to pertain to alleged mistreatment of a foreign diplomat and his family when they returned to Ottawa from a trip to Disney World in Florida. The complainant said the CBSA officer “had provocative behavior, looked intensely at his children, asked questions about their trip, and threw their passports at them,” triggering a complaint to DFAIT. The CBSA International and Partnerships directorate got involved in the complaint, the documents show.

One passenger arriving from the United Kingdom in Ottawa complained that CBSA seemed to single out him and his wife on both their visits to Canada. He alleges the agent told him to “just admit” they were carrying drugs in their luggage during a search. His wife was left in tears, he said.

“The Ottawa experience was particularly distressing for my wife and me,” he wrote.